Gambling Addiction & Recovery Support Group

Compulsive gambling is an urge or addiction to gamble despite harmful negative consequences or a desire to stop. A preferred term among many professionals is problem gambling, as few people described by the term experience true compulsions in the clinical sense of the word. Problem gambling often is defined by whether harm is experienced by the gambler or others rather...

Desperate to stop gambling

Hi all. I am addicted to scratch off lottery tickets. Mostly the $20 dollar ones. The last few years things have been really bad and ive lost nearly all of my money. Every Friday I find myself at the store frantically shoving $20 bills into the machine and scratching away. Problem is I can never stop. I keep thinking the next ticket will be the big one. I buy single tickets, batches of tickets and often entire rolls of tickets for $1K each. Just today I lost over $800 in the span of 2 hours. On the drive home I could barely focus as I was so depressed I almost got into an accident.

The addiction started with a $10k win 2 years ago off a $2 ticket. It got me hooked. To make things worse I won another $5k a couple weeks later and figured I could 'beat the system'. How ignorant was I?

Fast forward to today im down nearly $200k and lose my paycheck to the lotto every single week. Have debt collectors calling me all day long. Yet I still want to gamble. How sick is that?? Please help me stop!

When I was at a GA meeting, one night a guy walked in with a huge trash bag and everyone was wondering what's going on with him. Later we found out that he just spent his entire paycheck on scratch tickets. Despite he was facing an eviction notice from his apartment, he just cannot stop buying those scratch ticket. Exactly like your experience, he first started with few big wins and that got him hooked.

There are many ways to help you stop gambling, it all depends on which one work the best. Please review the articles which may related your situation on this site, that will be a good start.

What has helped me the most .the twelve steps and GA. A group of people with the same problem and the same solution.It's one day at a time.the steps got me back to my higher power who is God and his son Jesus. I started with step one.&quot;I am powerless over gambling and it had made my life unmanagable&quot;.It's is a disease. I don't have that piece where I can say no or I can stop. That's why I can't do this alone. it's the disease.It's what I have,not who I am. I am a child of God. And he loves me.take a stand.just for TODAY.I choose not to gamble.Your worth the effort!! in my prayers.Go to a meeting. do the work.. God bless.

I too am a scratch addict (check the name). As you know, you can lose a whole lotta money on those little tickets. The $20s are the worst, you ask me. I don't know what it is about them, but scratchers are like the crack of gambling: quick, easy, &quot;cheap.&quot; You get your &quot;hit&quot; immediately.
Please do not give up hope. You need to get to a GA meeting asap. I know you feel like you can't stop right now, but you can. You truly can. What GA will help you realize is that every time you scratch it's like you're cutting yourself -- you're literally hurting yourself every time. You can get out of this mess, but it's going to take some strength to avoid those tickets. Don't go into a 7-11. Don't go into groceries with machines. In fact, don't go anywhere where they have those machines.
You can do it.

Ive tried GA, therapy, anti-depressants etc and so far nothing has kept me away from gambling for more than a week. A few months ago I stopped for a week and then had a relapse on payday and lost nearly my entire $3,000 paycheck in a 5-hour scratching binge at a gas station. My hand was numb from all that scratching. I remember cashing in my last winners in the end that amounted up to $60 then taking the money and throwing it out on the street with disgust. Its almost like the money meant nothing to me then. The next day I felt so bad I vomited. But again a few days later I was back in the store scratching. I never learn. I have this desire to strike it rich and solve all my problems TODAY. Please help me convince this wont happen!

you have to take it one day at a time and tell yourself you are worth it. find a hobby keep yourself busy one day will lead to the next and then one month. You can do it find a hobby paint the rooms in your house. rebuild a car find something....

If someone came up to us and said they could give us all the money back that we gambled if we promised not to gamble again, many of us would take the money. Chasing losses is just a terrible way to go in the hole. I should know, I've done it zillions of times. I know that sick to your stomach feeling...the wreathing in psychological pain. Think of it this way...the highs are very high but they are definitely not worth the lows.

If you stop now, think about how much progress you can make in two years. Then think how much further behind you will be in 2 years if you keep doing the same thing. You're worth a lot more besides money. Give up the fight agains the odds and take care of yourself. You can make it past this..keep trying! :-)

I understand your pain, and so know the desire to &quot;just get out of the hole.&quot; I've only gotten hooked on the scratchers a few times, but I can see how devastating they could get for me. In fact, I believe they may be at the source of my gambling addiction - I won $500 when I was just 16 on a $1 scratcher that I bought at Sam's club (out of a machine). I had my mom cash it in for me and lived on that money for almost a year or so (as a teenager, $500 was amazing). I found myself in the casinos just 2 years later... and have done 10 years of damage to myself ever since. Poker, blackjack, 3 card, slots. You name it.

Like mercury says: &quot;the highs are very high but they are definitely not worth the lows. &quot; I am almost 90 days clean, and seriously couldn't agree with this more. I SO MISS the highs of the wins, but DO NOT miss the lows, at all. The feelings that you're describing, of feeling sick to your stomach (puking), feeling like money meant nothing, blowing a whole $3k paycheck, all of it. I can very much relate.

So if it means that you can't go into a store where the scratchers are sold, find someone to do your shopping for you for 3 months. When you need gas, pump at the pump itself or take a buddy.

In that time, go BACK to GA. Make as many meetings as you can. Use the phones. Fight the urges, and surrender your paychecks to someone. As the days pass, the urges will get less strong. I am still holding on by the seat of my pants, but I know I can beat it. You can, too. Each day will get easier, and your financial pressures will only go away over a long period of time.

For the compulsive gambler, there is no quick fix to our financial gambling mess. Even if we hit the big one, and paid everything off, the freedom of being debt free would make us thing we could gamble carelessly. We'd celebrate our freedom with destruction. Within time, probably even a shorter span than previously, we'd be back in hole, desperately praying on a win. Many gamblers commit suicide for this very reason. Strike it big, have the potential to get out of some messes, then blow it before the prior messes are ever even cleaned up. Then comes sheer hopelessness. Stop living a pipe dream. Give up the idea of a big win, and start putting in the work needed to dig yourself out of the financial hole. Start talking to your creditors, rather than ignoring them. Set up automatic payments that force you to stay more in line. Hold yourself accountable or have someone pay the bills for you.

YOU WILL NOT SOLVE THIS WITH A SINGLE SCRATCHER.

Give up your paychecks, stop going into stores/gas stations, and get your ass in a GA seat. We want you here... you are worth it.

I attended my first GA meeting Friday night. I felt it went well. But on the way home I needed to get gas and before I knew it I was scratching $20 tickets like crazy again. Lost over $400. I could not believe it was possible it took me all day laying in bed to finally post this. I told my wife the bills were paid (they were not) and everything will be fine this week. She will break down on Monday when the collections calls start coming in again and it will further dampen out relationship. I have just $150 left for the week Im already thinking about the best way to double or triple this money, but I was able to contain myself to the house today. I tried calling my GA 'sponsor' but was not able to reach them today...

Hi cantstopp, I can really really really relate to your post here. I believe I may be in a similar place with you. My gambling has escalated and I am in severe financial trouble. I know I must stop, and here I am, thinking about how much I want to go tonight.

The good thing is.....I am here reading and answering your post. I am trying to find the sane part of myself. The insane inner addict has been calling the shots for quite a long while now. I face the consequences,

There has to be a place where this poor insane gambler can lay down the insanity and find the will to make the change.

I have to find something to replace the gambling. I feel empty and afraid and want the escape, the excitement, the crazy identity of myself as a gambler. If I stop, do I have to face the grim reality? The grim reality is there anyway, whether I want to face it or not. In fact, with every dollar I feed into the gambling machine, reality becomes grimmer.

I, like you, feel ignorant, sick, and depressed. A little part of me knows there is a better way, a better me.

I'm hoping by coming here and talking with folks like you, we can help each other find our way. Please feel free to share thoughts with me on my posts as well. I really need the fellowship with others who understand what I'm going through.

coming here does help us all, but it's not the whole recovery process.

1st we have to have a strong desire to stop gambling.
2nd, we have to reach out for help to stop gambling. we cannot do it by ourselves. I finally figured out why trust myself? huh? my gambling insanity got me into the mess, so why trust my judgement?
3rd, we have to limit access to money to gamble with.
self-bann from casinos.
I'm not sure about scratch tickets: they are everywhere. Here, there are a couple of convience stores that don't sell them, and that is where I get my gas. not that scratch tickets are my thing: mine is machines, so I had to ban myself from the casino.

again, coming here is a start in the right direction. be sure to read from experienced people who have gone months without gambling. It is possible. but, we have to be very sure we DON'T WANT TO GAMBLE AGAIN. I finally got sick of being sick about my gambling. and searched and searched for a gambling counselor and a Ga: just as hard as I used to search and seach for money to go gambling with. we're pretty smart when it comes to finding money to gamble with? why not use that same resourcefulness to find help?

have a great gamble-free day today, everyone. one day at a time. that is about all we can control: one day gamble-free!!

I am at 22 days GF. I do know that the advice of &quot;one day at a time&quot; is what I start my day with. GA has helped alot. I am able to look at things so differently. I am gaining knowledge to help me through each &quot;day&quot;. It is all a lot of stuff. I have just realized that my sponsor that was assigned go me the first day of GA is too strict and rigid for &quot;me&quot;. there were a lot of daily and weekly expectations from the sponsor I just realized I am not ready for because I am in the gaining knowledge stage. I felt guilty about this and thought I am in this for help not more guilt. I will have courageous conservations with my sponsor about this, because my plan has to work for me. Well after this rambling I guess the important take away is that you need to gain the coping skills and knowledge that will work for you when on this daily journey we are exposed to our temptations.
Good luck

Im completely broke until next day. I gambled away my last $150 last night. In a desperate move I took out a payday loan for $400 bucks, owing them $500 when I get paid. This was to cover bills for today. The payday place sold lotto tickets and as soon as I was handed over the cash I started scratching it away. Yep all $400 gone even before I got out of the damn place. Im trying so hard not to gamble but as soon as I see tickets I starts buying. Im so fed up with it and have severe stress and depression. Any of you scratch off addicts out there able to quit?

Ah I never buy the scratch offs. Ive made a few bad investments in the stock market that cost me thousands but thats not really gambling since there is always the potential that my stocks could recover.

Whenever I see someone buying a scratch off at my local gas station I usually make the comment &quot;You know those things pay out something like 30 cents on the dollar...&quot; I don't know if thats a rude comment to make, but I like to let them know that the scratch off is one of the worst investments you can make with your hard earned cash. Id rather go to a casino and waste it in a social atmosphere than a stupid scratch-off.

Even the gamblers at the casino can come off as anti-social or people with inherent personal problems, such as a lady I met who had been there 6 hours, busted out 4 hours earlier with a bankroll of $200, was afraid to go home to get yelled at by her husband for wasting money there and claimed she just liked watching other people gamble.

Yea scratch offs are a bad way to spend your money, I havent bought one in years literally. I went to the casino about 3 months ago, played black jack literally perfectly according to the basic black jack strategy card and lost $50 in 20 minutes, so I was pretty much put off with going to the casino.

Find a hobby that occupies your time. One that takes your mind off of gambling. YOu can't win at gambling, you will lose money and in the case of a gambling addict a lot of money. I enjoy taking my RC car out, and I have a pretty top notch computer for playing the latest computer games. I like to socialize as well.

My biggest flaw is sometimes I get bored and will drink alcohol to pass the time faster, so in a sense Im an alcoholic, but unless I die of schirossis of the liver, I think its much less harmful than if I took my unemployment check to the casino and squandered it there.

Wow, 2012...no one will answer now :( sucks cuz this is the first thread I've found that actually related to our situation.

My boyfriend of 5 years has a scratcher problem. He halfway let's me help with his problem and is mostly transparent with me. We share all finances, I'm an artist and he's been a clerk at a gas station for the last 3 years. For the most part we have a pretty healthy relationship but this problem has been the biggest wound on our partnership. We rely on his income 70% of the time. We relate so hard to all of this, but the big piece of advice he can't follow is avoiding places that sell tickets, since he works there. Now we're long past the point of allowing him to have cash on him, I keep all the money for him (I don't ever spend his money on myself without his permission). This becomes problematic because he has to ask me for cash to gamble and throws a childlike fit when I deny him. I am guilty of being a pushover with a fear of confrontation and fear of being an over controlling girlfriend/partner and afraid of losing my best friend and love over this awful disease. I'm desperate to find a solution before the inevitable consequences come and we both go down. I've tried setting limits, allowances, and even playing them with him to help, but it's getting worse. He's admitted to the problem and a few times has convinced me he wants to quit. I dont know what to do anymore. There's got to be a way for him to get through it, for us to make it through this.

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